Dennis Mahony Talks Climate Change With Lexpert

Partner and head of our Environmental and Climate Change practices Dennis Mahony has contributed to a Lexpert article about companies adapting the way they operate to accommodate climate change.

Dennis discusses various natural phenomena that have changed over time, causing a significant ripple effect on business across a range of issues.

“Look at what’s happening with what we once called ‘permafrost,’” Dennis told Lexpert.

“There is an awful lot of waste rock contained in frozen tailings dams in the far north. Melting ground threatens the stability of those storage structures, and it increases the likelihood that acid and heavy metals from the waste will leak into the surrounding soil and water, causing major ecological damage,” he said.

Dennis also discusses the operational complications caused from previously stable frozen passageways which are now freezing later and thawing earlier.

“As a result, mining companies are forced to seek often expensive alternatives to bring in their equipment and people, including flying them in,” he said.